Week 7

Turkey, turkey, pie, pie, turkey...all adds up to backwards progress...DANG IT!

My transition week didn't work out too well...I am not exactly sure where I went wrong, but I ate out a little more than I should've (even though I cut each meal off early). So, next week is going to be really tough. I am completely on my own...and freaking out (Charles Forbes style).

Food:
Too many fries...too much outside food. This week I am only eating out a maximum of 2 times (1 lunch, 1 dinner). Using eDiets' meal plan recipes, Maria and I went to the store and picked up the food we need for the week...which, I hope, helps.

Gym:
I feel like I went for it last week...I was freaking sore all week. So, more of that, I guess.

The sad, sad results:
Initial Weight: 220
Week1: 214 [6 pound loss]
Week2: 210 [4 pound loss]
Week3: 206 [4 pound loss]
Week4: 204 [2 pound loss]
Week5: 199 [5 pound loss]
Week6: 196.5 [2.5 lb loss]
Week7: 198 [1.5 lb GAIN] - Boo!

22 lbs gone but not forgotten - and may come back - but hopefully not; 2 more to go [Goal = 24 pounds by 12/02]

And Blah.

The Beef Pot Roast Conspiracy

What?!?! 2 blog enteries for the price of one!?!? Uh-huh, so don't forget to scroll down to the previous entry to see week 6's weigh-in results and what not...
------------------------------
A little conversation I had with my Blog on the train ride to NYC…

BLOG: So, Jason…

Jason: Yes, Blog?

B: What up wit all the Beef Pot Roast?

J: I dunno Blog…I guess I was just digging on the pot roast that eDiets cooks up. Or may be it has to do with my love of the crock-pot? I am not really sure…why do you ask blog?

B: Dude, it is just weird to eat one thing over and over…especially when you have over 400 meals to choose from. It just seems like you only looked at the “B’s” on the food list. Seems a little unadventurous to me.

J: Blog, you may be right. As you know I don’t really adventure much when it comes to food…I don’t even really like food I don’t like coming near food I do…(ask Jen and Maria – they bore witness to a freak out due to just this very tick). I guess I knew I liked the Pot Roast and knew it was always there to make me feel secure.

B: You’re weird.

J: Yes I am, Blog…yes, I am.
---------------------------
How many times has Beef Pot Roast passed through my luscious lips since week 1 (well, really week 2 as I can’t find my menu from week 1, but whatever)? Here’s the run down:

Week 2:
1. Monday, October 16, 2006, Dinner
Beef pot roast with new potatoes and corn…I remember feeling satisfied by this experience.

2. Thursday, October 19, 2006, Lunch
Beef pot roast with new potatoes and corn…second time, same week, EXACT same meal…still liked it.

3. Friday, October 20, 2006, Dinner
Beef pot roast, sicilian vegetables, potatoes…good & yummy…even though I had it 2 days in a row. You’d think I would NOT order again next week, but…

Week 3:
4. Sunday, October 22, 2006, Dinner
Beef pot roast, mashed potatoes, and gravy with Riviera bland vegetables…Ok, this is strange..barely any time to recover from Friday’s dinner and here is pot roast again. I still enjoyed, however.

5. Monday, October 23, 2006 , Lunch
Beef pot roast with new potatoes and corn…damn, now this is getting ridiculous…this is the 3rd time in 2 weeks that I ate this exact meal. Not sure I was still totally digging by this point, but let’s see what happens next…

Week 4:
6. Sunday, October 29, 2006, Dinner
Beef pot roast, mashed potatoes, and gravy with Riviera bland vegetables…yup, exact same meal as last Sunday…what the hell was I thinking?

7. Thursday, November 2, 2006, Dinner
Beef pot roast with new potatoes and corn…4th time…blah.

Week 5:
Might have cooled to the pot roast a bit…
8. Friday, November 10, 2006, Dinner
Beef pot roast, Sicilian vegetables, potatoes...feeling it again? Nope.

That’s it for week 5

Week 6:
Screw beef pot roast – is what I must’ve said during week 6…I had none.

Week 7:
I wasn’t in control of the meals this upcoming and final eDiets week, but the folks in charge must’ve noticed that I had too much of the beef pot roast…None on the menu.

Beef pot roast 8 times in 6 weeks. That is just dumb. Thinking back, I did enjoy the beefy goodness of each one, sort of, well maybe not…but whatever and whatnot and stuff.

Here are some "also rans" in the beef or pot roast genre:

Wednesday, October 18, 2006, Lunch
BEEF and bean burrito (eh, sort of fits the criteria, I guess)

Thursday, October 26, 2006, Dinner
Pork ROAST with mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies (the other white meat pot roasted up nicely)

Monday, October 30, 2006, Dinner
BEEF pub burger with cheesy potato casserole (if the burrito is in, so is the burger)

Tuesday, October 31, 2006, Lunch
BEEF and noodles and veggies (basically beef pot roast thrown on top of some noodles – there was a chicken variety of this meal that I remember having at least 3 times as well)

Saturday, November 4, 2006, Lunch
ROAST BEEF sandwich (where the beef pot roast left overs go)

Sunday, November 5, 2006, Lunch
ROAST pork sandwich (where the pork pot roast left overs go)

Monday, November 13, 2006, Lunch
ROAST BEEF sandwich – again (I guess there was a little pot roast in week 6)

Tuesday, November 14, 2006, Lunch
ROAST pork sandwich (I ordered things in patterns…beef, pork, rinse, repeat,…)

Thursday, November 16, 2006, Dinner
Pork ROAST with mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies (see Thursday, Oct 26 for witty comment)

So, needless to say, I stuck to what I knew and lost some weight along the way. Thanks to everyone for all the support, encouragement, listening, and most of all scathing, hurtful comments over the last 6 weeks!!!!

Week Sixth

Alright people, listen up…I AM TIRED OF TRAY FOOD! There I said it. I think this is why e-diets cuts you off at 7 weeks…

This weekend I actually ordered real food at real restaurants. Yup…I ate non-delivered, non-microwaved (I hope) vittles. Part because I am trying a “transition” experiment…part that we were in Philadelphia (more on that later)…part that I had no access to a microwave…and part that I didn’t want to watch everyone around me eating and I was angry due to hunger or HANGRY (stolen from our friend Hunter’s show [title of show] http://www.titleofshow.com).

Why in Philly?
Well, it is the city of brotherly love, but that is not why we were there. Maria and Jen were running – again. This time they were taking part in marathon relay teams. Today (Sunday) was the Philadelphia marathon and both ladies ran the last leg (6.2 miles) for their teams. Jen was on Team Spankies and Maria was on Team Maratongs…the 2 other teams in the group were Team Commandos and Team Speedos. They all did really well and had fun to boot. Maria got to put a lot of faces to running board personas. Everyone was super cool and made the weekend really fun.

Why you eating real food, fool?
Dang…because it is time, now get off my back…geez. Am I worried about gaining the weight back and “growing” back into my pants (which I found out I can take off with out unbuttoning or unzipping – I guess time to go shopping)? Sure I am. As I said before, there is some comfort in the tray of food telling me when it is time to stop eating. So, I am looking at this week as Stage 1.5 – the great transition. I am going to eat some meals from eDiets and some on my own. So far, I think I’ve done pretty well…

For lunch on Saturday (the Hangry meal), I had Eggs Benedict…it was super delicious. And I stopped after half the potatoes and one Benedict. The rest I boxed up for a re-heat sometime this week. I was pretty impressed that I hit the breaks. I wouldn’t say that I felt full (because I didn’t) or that I couldn’t have easily polished off the whole thing (because I could have)…it was because I knew it was quitting time. And a few minutes later my stomach told my brain that it was full…which was nice (I know you can hear this but in my head “nice” was pronounced as Borat). Anyhow, later that night the entire group of runners and athletic supporters met up at Boca di Beppo, a family-style Italian joint. I stuck to the salad, a piece (or 2) of garlic bread and a smidge of pasta. Again, the brain shut down the mouth at a good time. This morning I knew not to eat the entire ham sandwich I got for lunch and at dinner I slammed on the brakes of what could’ve been an early disaster in “transition” week…I ordered a Caesar chicken wrap with fries…ate just half the wrap and a little more than half the fries (I missed fries). I could’ve easily ate all the fries as well as the plate of fries that ended up in the middle of the table…but I knew it was bad idea jeans…so I just drank a ton of ice tea and dealt with it…success bitches…I made it through my first real food experiences with out pigging out. Now let’s see what happens this week.

Oh yeah, there was a weigh in…here’s what up folks:

Check my math:
Initial Weight: 220

Week1: 214 [6 pound loss]

Week2: 210 [4 pound loss]

Week3: 206 [4 pound loss]

Week4: 204 [2 pound loss]

Week5: 199 [5 pound loss]

Week6: 196.5 [2.5 lb loss]


23.5 lbs banished; 0.5 more to go [Goal = 24 pounds by 12/02]

CRAP!!!!!!!!! 0.5 lbs from the 12/02 goal. I pretty much all but hit the first big goal! And 2 weeks early. Dang that is a good feeling.

Now I have to start thinking about getting through Stage 1.5 (or week 7) and on to Stage 2 (week 8 to 180 lbs).

Finally, I wanted to say congrats to everyone that ran this weekend in Philly - relayers, 8k-ites, half-lings, and the big dogs that went for the hole enchilada – way to go Cool Runnings people.

7:37 UPDATE
My friend Bud (who happens to have an adorable little girl - see photo after the jump) says:
>"Way to stay in control! Did you make to the gym?"

Yes, I actually did well on the gym front this week. My legs are looking rather thin, though. Is it possible that I lost 23.5 lbs of leg weight? Even stranger is the fact that my left leg is skinnier than the right...this is due to the surgery I had in 1995 or was it '96 - whatever, I was too drunk back then to remember things like surgery. Anyhow, yes to the gym...but need to really go for it heading into the next stages...don't want to just waste away to nothing as part of this whole thing is getting back on the soccer field in good condition early next year. Thanks Bud.

Check out Kelsey Ann Stroud:

WEEK BLUE

Welp, another week gone...another weigh-in. I was a little worried about the results. This week, I spent nearly zero time in the gym. I was all kinds of worn out after the Marathon weekend (even though I did not run - so, not sure why I was so darn tired) and then spent Tuesday night to Friday evening in Baltimore for all-day meetings. The hotel had a gym, but I just couldn't muster more than a 20 minute bike ride. I did pretty good with the diet while out of town...I had a salad for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday to reduce the weirdness of eating with the folks from the client. I was too worried to finish either salad...I am too used to the comfort of little trays telling me exactly how much I can eat...

I need to start getting over the fear soon...actually sooner than I originally thought. When I was going into eDiets to set up my meals for Week 7, I noticed that the "edit menu" feature was disabled...I figured there was something wrong with the site. To make sure I called customer service...they informed me that week 7 was my "final and free" week. Apparently they don't let you alter the free week - CRAP! That's thanksgiving and I wanted to enjoy turkey with everyone else. Poop on a stick. In sort of a panic I started to think about what I can do to start week 8 as "Stage 2" - one week sooner than anticipated. eDiets has a nice little program that builds a weekly menu (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack) with a Shopping list. So, basically, the same thing I have had for the past 5 weeks w/o getting the food in the mail. This all for $4 a week. Nice. Maria and I are going to go for it. I am going to try to use it as a transition back to the real world as well as hit my final weight goal of 180 lbs. (16 lbs past my 12/02 goal).

Speaking of weight goals...how did I do on this "no-work-out-traveling-crazy" week? I lost...and I breached a big number...here are the results:

Un numeros:
Initial Weight: 220
Week1: 214 [6 pound loss]
Week2: 210 [4 pound loss]
Week3: 206 [4 pound loss]
Week4: 204 [2 pound loss]
Week5: 199 [5 pound loss!!!]

21 lbs flushed down; 3 more to go [Goal = 24 pounds by 12/02]

The big news: I lost more, 5 pounds more. Hooray!
The bigger news: I am officially below 200 lbs. Just barely, but below none the less. That is big in my mind. I haven't been below 200 pounds for some time...probably since college (maybe 93/94). Crap that is a long time to carry around the debauchery of the KU years (hm, Beer).
The biggest news: I should hit my 12/02 goal 1 week early! That is cool as it will let me move onto Stage 2 food action at the right weight of around 196.

On to week 6...and back to the gym fat boy!

Half way point - and so enters the dreaded WALL

Or so I thought. When I weighed myself this morning - all the way until I wrote the first draft of this post - I thought I weighed exactly the same as I did on Monday (last weigh-in). But I actually lost some...details after the jump.

---- This is what I had to say prior to looking at the numbers ----
Ok, so, I knew it would happen...but I was hoping I could get under 200lbs before it did. I hit the freaking weight loss wall. Dang it.

Good things:
* I didn't gain weight
* I was at a little bit of a disadvantage as this was a short week (remember I weighed in on Monday instead of Saturday last week) - so there was less time to drop poundage.
* I feel better - I am starting to feel the affects of eating right, vitamins, and working out.
* Maria's sister Beth thinks I look like I am YOUNGER! I disagree, but, hey it's good to hear.
* I am still ahead of my overall goal - thanks to 3 goal-beating weeks.

Bad things:
* 0 lbs lost = crazy weight OCD thoughts all next week - hooray, they are back!
* I think I could have worked out harder...I took too many days off last week and wasn't fully into the work outs. So, I need to go fer it next week.
* 200 lbs is a big goal for me and I was really looking forward to hitting it this week...but poop...I didn't.
* 4 more freaking weeks to go! Time to break out my favorite book - "The Little Engine that Could"

So, the goods are beating the bads...I just need to stick to it, stay with the ediet chow, and hit the gym harder...that is the only way I can BREAK THROUGH THE WALL! - man, sometimes I can sound really upbeat.

--- And now ---

Le' numbers:
Initial Weight: 220
Week1: 214 [6 pound loss]
Week2: 210 [4 pound loss]
Week3: 206 [4 pound loss]
Week4: 204 [2 pound loss]

16 lbs whisked away; 8 more to drop [Goal = 24 pounds by 12/02]

So, wow. Just 1 pound under the goal for the week...and as I said, I am in good shape overall. I do think I slacked off in the gym and need to hit it - so, that is something to work on.

p.s. "The Little Engine that Could" was a book I quite enjoyed as a youngster...and according to Beth's assessment, I should be back to my grade school looks any day now. Little engine, here I come!